Do You Remember

Blazing February sun - spotlights the Bar
à Huitres,
near the Boulevard Saint-Germain.

The Franc?

Paris:- Monday, 18. February 2002:- This morning
at 00:01 the French franc ceased 641 years of loyal
service, to be replaced by the new European currency with
the highly imaginative name of 'euro.'

This is pronounced in French as 'uhro' because 'e's are
generally unpronounceable in France. Thus, at the
marché five slices of tasty jambon may be quoted as
costing 'cinq uhro quarante-trois,' which is the same as
5.43, which is also how it would be written.

Sometimes euro sounds like 'oro' or a small inadvertent
belch, so you have to listen carefully and just try to
separate the more familiar number sounds from unfamiliar
euro-sounds.

Last night, at the Bercy ministry of finance, Laurent
Fabius shared some Champagne donated by taxpayers with
Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and 600 finance ministry
workers and other dignitaries as replica-franc flags were dipped
for the first and last time while stiff-like-boards
replica-euro flags were hoisted for the first time - and
possibly the last time, if they are not intended as a
permanent display.

The entry to métro station
Cité - right where Paris began.

TV-news has presented a number of video-clips showing
the vast operation of collection and bundling of old and
now useless francs. Paper notes have holes punched in them
and are counted and bundled and packed in shrink-wrap,
while coins are weighed into standard-weight heavy-duty
plastic sacks.

These are being assembled at various points around
France, and then they are being shipped by train to huge
collection centres, guarded by the army. The paper will be
turned into confetti and recycled, and the metal will be
melted and recycled. Goodbye francs.

According to a poll done for Le Parisien, the French do
not particularly regret the disappearance of the franc.
Okay, 49 percent regret it at least a bit, 35 percent not
at all, and nobody has 'no opinion.' The missing 16 percent
will only say they 'don't really' regret anything, so these
should be added to the 35 percent.

A Franc
History

The franc is recorded as first appearing on Friday, 5.
December 1360 in Compiègne. It was coined during one
of Europe's '100 years' wars in order to pay a ransom for
the release of Jean Le Bon.

Charles V, son of Jean Le Bon II, introduced a new model
franc and this was accepted 'throughout the kingdom,' which
was not nearly as big as France is today.

Some time later, in 1641, Louis XIII wanted to get
control - a habit of all the Louis' - of all the money so
he minted three coins - 'les Louis' - and banned francs.
The French, as is their custom, used the 'louis' but went
on calling them 'francs.'

The franc came back on Saturday, 15 August 1795, when it
was introduced by the Law of Thermidor, Year II, to replace
the 'livre,' which roughly means 'pound.' This new franc
was decimal, unlike the cross-channel 'livre.'

Under Napoléon, a 'franc germinal' was introduced
by the 'Law of 7. Germinal, Year XI' which
corresponded to Monday, 28. March 1803. The one- franc
piece was silver. The Banque de France, created three years
earlier, was also instructed to put paper money into
circulation.

More sun, on the Latino restaurant 'El
Sol y el Luna' in the Rue Saint-Jacques.

'Sous' disappeared under Louis Napoléon after
1850 and were replaced with centimes. The symbol of France,
Marianne, first appeared on coins in 1858. Other countries
liked this so much that the franc was adopted and
imitated.

The first World War was not kind to the gold-based
franc, and it dumped in value to become only a shadow of
its former worth, until the 'new franc' was introduced in
1958 - which whacked the last two zeros off 'old' francs.
'New francs' became plain 'francs' in 1963.

The last francs, both coins and bills, were decorated
with traditional French symbols, plus references to modern
France. Some people, not just in France, do regret the
disappearance of some of these later designs - especially
when compared to the euro's one-size-fits-all
graphics.

Other Franc Notes

Tonight's TV-news has had a report that hundreds of
millions of francs have 'disappeared.' By this, it is meant
that the Ministry of Finance does not know where they are.
Since francs are no longer legal tender, Bercy thinks these
'missing' francs may not by traded in for euros - which
will represent a huge windfall for the treasury.

Various charitable organizations in France have been
collecting francs. The Croix-Rouge estimates that it has
recovered 50.5 million, but thinks the figure is short by
about 16 million francs uncollected so far.

Other collection points, at airports for example,
believe that as much as 75 percent of what they've piled up
in coin boxes is probably foreign currency. In any case, so
many are collecting so much that it is registered in tons
rather than face-values.

Hospitals in Paris will continue collecting francs until
the end of this month. The Association of Paralytics in
France, the League Against Cancer and the Catholic
Committee Against Hunger will continue their collections
until the end of March. The Croix-Rouge will maintain its
operation until the end of June.

Some Francs Worth
Gold?

Some francs minted in smaller numbers than usual may be
worth far more than their face-value if they are in very
good or uncirculated condition. For example, a 1967
5-centime piece could bring as much as 46.